BART admits much of system is at 'end of its useful life' in shockingly honest Tweet

[KamaAina]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/BART-admits-system-is-at-end-of-its-useful-life-6895553.php

When BART announced that an electrical glitch was disrupting service yesterday, disgruntled passengers took to Twitter, throwing out complaints. The transit system responded with shocking honesty.

The conversation started when BART first announced the power surge that knocked some 25 trains out of service yesterday afternoon.

BART is notorious for its inconsistent service, and as you might expect someone shot back with a snarky remark....

BART's response was shockingly honest and they offered up no excuses — except the fact that their system is old, tired and at the end of its legs.

[chapdrum]

1. Your icon is apropos...

This does not bode well in any number of ways, all of which are obvious.

Perhaps if the U.S. decides to rein in the taxes on some of the estimated $1,200,000,000 parked offshore...

That'd be a good start.

[Auggie]

2. How about some defense money too?

When pigs fly, of course.

[Retrograde]

3. And yet London's underground and NYC's subway system continue to work

and they're both much, much older.

I'm a fan of - and user of - public transportation, and I hate BART. It's a bloated bureaucracy with a system designed to be incompatible with other transportation systems, and one that wants the lion's share of transit funds. If I were in charge, I'd get some engineers to figure out how BART can switch to standard gauge tracks, then integrate them with CalTrain. Then I'd use some of the money not spent on the special wide-gauge cars to extend more rail transit, especially if I could use some of the old right-of-ways or tracks.

[KamaAina]

4. Caltrain would have to be electrified

as it should be anyway. No way are diesels running through the Transbay Tube!

[Retrograde]

5. They'd like to be - but they don't get as much in the way of subsidies

as some transit systems. But an electrified train system is a solved problem.

ETA: a number of Peninsula politicians have advocated changing the proposed high-speed rail to end at San Jose and switch over to the existing system, pointing out that the savings from not building the originally proposed monstrosity would more than pay for electrifying the SJ-SF route, eliminating the surface crossings, and increasing the headways.